


Play, but not too rough

by CrypticSighs



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27898045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrypticSighs/pseuds/CrypticSighs
Summary: Missing ass-checking improv scene from 1x09.
Relationships: Gerri Kellman/Roman "Romulus" Roy
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	Play, but not too rough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kitnkabootle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitnkabootle/gifts).



> This is an imagining of the scene that apparently started it all. If you go around halfway into episode 1x09, Roman and Kendall chat at the bar for a hot second and Gerri is right there behind Roman. As soon as Kendall buggers off, Roman turns straight round to Gerri.

“Did I say something fucking funny?” Roman mutters at Kendall’s retreating back. Turns round to catch Gerri who’d been staring their way, their eyes lock before she has time to avert her gaze. He slides nearer, feels triumphant at having already won the first round of whatever game they’re about to play.

“So tell me Gerri, do you like it dirty?” he deadpans, leaning his arm casually against the bar. His nostrils quickly fill with the scent of her amber and vanilla perfume despite the number of bodies surrounding them. He subconsciously takes a step closer to her.

“Excuse me?” Gerri asks, already annoyed.  
“Your martini,” he declares as if it was obvious, even points to it. “Do you like it dirty?”

She glances at her glass resting on the bar before narrowing her eyes at him. Briefly looks him up and down, clearly sizing him up. “Upon occasion,” she answers slowly, raises her drink to her mouth to take a sip. Alcohol clearly needed to numb her already rising irritation.

He smiles knowingly at her non-answer, admires the lipstick stain she’s imprinting on the glass. He signals to the barman to bring them two more martinis. 

“What did you think I was talking about?” he asks innocently. “It couldn’t possibly have been sex?” He brings his hand up to rest over his heart as if the very idea shocks his fragile sensibility.

“With you, it wouldn’t surprise me,” she argues.  
“Oh, I think it would very much surprise you,” he says suggestively, smirking at her.  
“The only way it would is by not ending in total disappointment,” she states coolly.

“Ha,” he blurts, making one of his strange laughing noises. “Even at my worst, I’m never totally disappointing.” He’s not sure if he’s trying to reassure her or himself. He nods in thanks at the barman as he places their drinks in front of them.

“Would your answer to my original question have changed?” he pushes. “Assuming I had been talking about sex as your one tracked mind obviously thought.”  
“No comment,” she responds evenly, rolling her eyes.

He finds himself staring at her. Just lets his gaze wander over her face, across to her diamond earrings and down to her chest. Follows the line of her necklace with his eyes, has to resist the urge to reach out and touch her collar bones, which surprises him. When he returns to her face, she’s watching him with narrowed eyes. Her expression is unreadable but the blush from her martini has deepened slightly.

“Are you going to ask?” he enquires nonchalantly.  
“Why you keep pestering me with vague questions?” she counters impatiently.  
“What my wet towel of a brother and I were whispering about,” he clarifies.

She regards him for a moment as he takes his first swallow of martini. She never clocks off, is constantly on alert for signs of potential fuckery. In her job, especially with the Roys, it is frequent and plentiful. However she doubts Kendall is stupid enough to place any real trust in Roman after his betrayal during the vote of no confidence. Even Kendall’s coke saturated brain would know Roman isn’t capable of standing up to his father yet. She could read in their body language that neither Kendall nor Roman were feeling particularly warm towards each other.

“I doubt it was anything of note,” she answers honestly.

“Actually we were discussing the hot blonde who was standing behind me,” he baits. “What could possibly have gone wrong that she’s drinking by the bar all alone?”

“Probably all the stress from babysitting the manchild COO has driven her to it.”  
“Is that why you didn’t bring a date? Coz you can’t take your eyes off me, so to speak?”  
“No, he died. Remember?”

She enjoys watching him squirm a little at the memory of their hospital chat and his forgetting that Baird was long dead. It suddenly strikes her that he’s gone from having essentially no awareness of her to regularly appearing at her side, hounding her with weird questions and lewd remarks. Every time she bats him away, he returns more determined. She wonders when his strange interest in her will wear off.

“Who babysits the tortoise in your absence then?” he asks playfully.  
“You obviously have very fond memories of that tortoise,” she smirks, holds herself back from jamming the knife in further by revealing the tortoise is also dead.  
“How could I possibly forget his little scrotum like face poking in and out of that majestic shell?” he declares happily. “God, just the memory of it turns me on.”

She shakes her head slightly, bites her cheek to stop herself from showing any signs of amusement. “I didn’t realise beastiality was your thing,” she quips.

He leans in closer to her, hovers his mouth as close to her ear as he dares to risk. Doesn’t doubt for a moment that she would slap him across the face if she really wanted to.

“Like I said, ‘my thing’ would surprise you,” he flirts. “And the fucking tortoise.”

As he withdraws from her personal space, he catches sight of Shiv and his mother having some sort of confrontation in the next room. Thinks he should crash their little party, whether to stir shit up or cool some tempers will be decided when he gets there. He straightens and picks up his martini before surveying Gerri again.

“You look fantastic by the way,” he says warmly, gazing into her bright blue eyes. “Try not to step on too many dicks in that dress.”

Her eyebrows raise at the apparently sincere compliment. She glances down at her dress curiously before looking round at Roman. She tells herself it was to see where he was headed and the potential trouble that could result. But she finds her eyes fixing on his rear, admiring the evidence that the hard work with his trainer is clearly starting to pay off. She turns back to gulp down the last of her martini in one swallow, aiming to falsely blame the warmness of her cheeks on the alcohol.

Roman stops at the door and peers over his shoulder for a final look at Gerri in her dress. His eyes trace from her elegant updo, to her exposed neck, down her spine and finally come to rest on her backside. He smiles admiringly at it and the woman it belongs to, before turning to go break up the latest family squabble.

**Author's Note:**

> We could argue over who looked at whose arse first but what matters is that they both looked.
> 
> This is for kitnkabootle for being a lovely stranger and gifting me with her kind words.


End file.
